Family abductions constitute an important peril in the lives of children,
particularly children living in households without one of their biological
parents. The estimated 203,900 children who were victims of a family abduction
in 1999 represent a large group of children caught up in divisive and
potentially disturbing family dynamics.

Need for Services That Address Underlying Conflicts

Fifty-seven percent of the children who were abducted by a family member
were caretaker missing (in the sense that their caretaker did not know
where they were, became alarmed, and tried to locate them). Family abducted
children constituted only 9 percent of all children classified as caretaker
missing and only 7 percent of all children reported missing. In considering
these statistics, however, it is important to remember that the potential
for harm to family abducted children exists whether or not they are classified
as missing. Family abduction is not just a problem of missing children.

In addition to locating and returning family abducted children, agencies
seeking to help these children must address the conflicts that produce
and prolong the abduction of children by family members. The fact that
fully 40 percent of family abductions were not reported to the police
underscores the importance of agencies that can provide a response to
threatened and actual family abductions over and above the important location
and recovery function performed by law enforcement.

Reality vs. Stereotype

Although the family abductions described in this study typically had
certain disturbing elements such as attempts to prevent contact or alter
custodial arrangements permanently, they did not generally involve the
most serious sorts of features associated with the types of family abductions
likely to be reported in the news. Actual concealment of the child occurred
in a minority of episodes. Use of force, threats to harm the child, and
flight from the State were uncommon. In contrast to the image created
by the word abduction, most of the children abducted by a
family member were already in the lawful custody of the perpetrator when
the episode started. In addition, nearly half of the family abducted children
were returned in 1 week or less, and the majority were returned within
1 month.

Limitations of the Findings

The fact that family abductions in this study tended to resolve themselves
in time should not lead one to assume that most family abductions are
relatively benign and can be resolved without the intervention of authorities.
The researchers in this study were not in a position to provide a full
assessment of the types of harm that family abductions inflicted on children
or the extent to which intervention by outside authorities facilitated
the resolution of family abductions.5

Focus on Younger Children

This studys finding that younger children are the ones at greater
risk of family abduction parallels findings from previous NISMART studies
and other studies as well. Family abduction is one of the few victimization
perils that younger children experience to a greater extent than older
children. Thus, prevention efforts should focus on younger children, especially
those who do not live with both biological parents. Programs that specifically
promote child well-being and those that address child safety issues generally
may be appropriate forums in which to raise awareness about family abduction.

The estimate of the number of family abducted children known to police
from this NISMART2 study, approximately 121,800 in 1999, contrasts
with a 1992 estimate of 30,500 family abductions known to police based
on a survey of law enforcement agencies (Grasso et al., 2001). The discrepancy
could reflect a change in help-seeking patterns during the 1990s in the
wake of family abductions. It may be that victims of family abduction
in NISMART2 overstated to interviewers their propensity to contact
police. But more likely, it reflects the fact that police do not keep
full records of all the individuals who contact them about family abductions
and may not categorize the episodes as such in their databases.

An Area in Need of Further Attention

Despite close to 20 years of organized concern about missing children,
and despite the creation of missing child prevention and intervention
programs, the family abduction problem remains one area where efforts
may be the least developed. Knowledge about the number of children who
experience family abductions should spur efforts to prevent the occurrence
of family abductions and help children and their aggrieved caretakers
recover from the effects of these abductions when they occur.